Character Options classic series action figures

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In 2008, Character Options began releasing action figures of characters from the classic Doctor Who series in the 5" scale. As was customary for Character Options, the figures were not actually 5" tall. Instead the Dalek figure was 5" tall and all other figures are scaled to match it.[1] Figures were often released in batches, referred to as "Waves". Thus, a figure might be said to be in "Wave 1", "Wave 2", or the like. Note that as of 2016 the wave has been re-dubbed the 5.5" range, with all figures appearing after 2016 as part of the "5.5" range".

The initial assortment contained three former incarnations of the Doctor and an assortment of creatures and robots. The focus was on the Fourth Doctor's era. Another feature of this line was the inclusion of parts of a build a figure in each toy (namely the K1 Robot and the Cyber-Controller from TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen). A second wave of six figures was released in 2010, but without a build-it component. Other waves followed.

Classic Series Action Figures Wave 1 (2008)

  • Wave One contained eight figures.
  • Each release in this series included a Collect-&-Build component to make Robot K1.
  • This wave was released in 2008 and priced £7.99 (UK)

The Dalek Collector's Set #1 (2008)

Dalek Collectors Set - 1.jpg

The Ages Of Steel Wave (2009)

  • This wave contained four figures.
  • Each release in this series included a Collect-&-Build component to make the Cyber-Controller from TV: The Tomb of the Cybermen.
  • This set was released in 2009 and priced £7.99 (UK)
  • The Cyber-Lord was the only new series figure released in the classic series line of figures, but was called Cyber-Leader instead.

The Dalek Collector's Set #2 (2009)

  • This boxed set contained three figures, all leaders.

The Fourth Doctor Adventure Set (2009)

  • This boxed set contained four figures.

Exclusives (2009)

  • Forbidden Planet got ten exclusive figures to retail in 2009.
  • These figures were released throughout 2009 and were priced £25.99 (UK)

Classic Series Action Figures Wave 2 (2010)

  • Wave Two contained six figures.
  • This wave was released in 2010 and priced £9.99 (UK)

The Eleven Doctors Set (2010)

  • This boxed set contained eleven figures. (Oddly, the Seventh Doctor figure had no hat.)
  • This set was released in 2010 and priced £49.99 (UK)

Exclusives (2010)

  • Forbidden Planet had ten exclusive figures in 2010.
  • These figures were released throughout 2010 and were priced £25.99 (UK)

Exclusives (2011)

  • Throughout 2011 Forbidden Planet continued to release exclusive sets of 5" figures based on specific televised stories.
  • These figures were released throughout 2010 and were priced £25.99 upwards(UK)

2012 Sets

A few classic sets were released in this year, including a figure set based on Sutekh from TV: Pyramids of Mars. Another set released was a set based on TV: The Three Doctors and included Jo Grant, the Brigadier and a Gel guard from Omega's universe.

2013 Doctor and Dalek sets

  • At the time of its release, the Eighth Doctor and Alpha Dalek from the story COMIC: Children of the Revolution set was one of the rare times that Character Options had designed and sold a figure not based on a television story. At the time of its release, the only other figure made from a non-televised medium was a Comic-con exclusive variant of the Sixth Doctor from the web cast audio Real Time. This would change in 2019 when Character Options would begin to release variants of both the Eighth Doctor and the War Doctor based on their appearances in the Big Finish Productions audio story medium. Those figures also, amusingly, were released as two-packs along with a Dalek figure (see 2019 section).

2013/2014 Third Doctor Figure Sets/Seventh Doctor Figures

2015

2016 Exclusives and Variants

2017 The 13 Doctors Set and Three-packs

  • 2017 saw the release of a new, larger version of the 11 Doctors set, this time titled "The Thirteen Doctors" and included all versions of the Doctor from an exclusive variant of the First Doctor to the Twelfth Doctor with the "Thirteenth Doctor" being counted as the War Doctor.
The Thirteen Doctors set, featuring new and exclusive variants of the Doctor's first twelve incarnations and the War Doctor.
"The Monsters", featuring two classic series Cybermen.

2018 New 3-Figure Packs and Exclusive TARDIS

  • 2018 saw an introduction of new figures and sets for the 5.5" range, with the line picked up exclusively by B&M. The first of the classic figures released for this wave was a 3-figure pack titled "The 1970's Collector Set" and included The Brigadier as seen in costume throughout season 7 of the classic series, the Fourth Doctor in garb as featured in TV: The Talons of Weng-Chiang and an Auton from TV: Terror of the Autons.
  • Also released was a brand-new classic series TARDIS form the Third Doctor's era which featured the Third Doctor as seen in TV: The Time Monster and a version of the TARDIS that sported a black base. It was priced at £19.99.

2019 Exclusive TARDIS and Doctor/Dalek Sets

  • 2019 saw a quite a resurgence of 5"/5.5" figures as new classic-era sets were produced. They were priced at £19.99.

2020 Exclusive TARDIS and Figure Packs

Third Doctor (wearing a bottle-green jacket) and TARDIS as depicted in The Monster of Peladon.
Daleks as featured in TV: The Chase
  • In a first, a limited run of the Benton figure were given by Character Options to John Levene and his agent, to be released as an individual figure exclusively via Levene's official website.






Footnotes

  1. Behind the Scenes at Design Works: Part 3 A little history. doctorwhotoys.net. Retrieved on 22nd October 2011.